L&T Bags EPC Contract for the 1.5 GW Sudair Solar Project in Saudi Arabia

L&T has secured a turnkey EPC Contract in Saudi Arabia, from the consortium led by ACWA Power for the 1.5 GW Sudair solar project.

The Renewables arm of Larsen & Toubro’s (L&T) Power Transmission & Distribution Business has announced that it has secured a turnkey EPC Contract, from the consortium of ACWA Power and the Water and Electricity Holding Company (a subsidiary of the Public Investments Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF)), for the Sudair Solar PV Project which is worth a planned 1.5 GW capacity. 

This project is considered to be the largest (planned) solar plant in Saudi Arabia with the PPA already finalised. It is also one of the largest such plants in the world. It will be developed in the Riyadh Province at a 30.8 square kilometre land parcel available to install a total capacity of 1.5GW PV Solar modules with associated single axial tracker and inverters.

“With several GWs of solar EPC experience, L&T has emerged as a global technology player for solar plants,” said S. N. Subrahmanyan, CEO & Managing Director, Larsen & Toubro. “L&T has been a provider of EPC services for several green projects in recent years. In solar, L&T has over 2.1 GW of utility-scale solar projects commissioned and are also operating and maintaining several of them. We have a diversified renewable portfolio of 32 MW floating solar power plants, 135 MWH of Battery Energy Storage projects, 500 micro-grids and 14000 solar water pumps. L&T is also working on potential solutions related to Green Hydrogen and Carbon Capture & Storage technologies. Securing this project is a major milestone in our clean and green energy path to fight the climate crisis that the world faces,” he added.

The ambitions of Saudi Arabia’s National Renewable Energy Program (NREP) are on track. As part of the NREP, Sudair Solar PV Project is awarded to PIF and its partner, ACWA Power. This project is part of the target capacity of 58.7 GW of the Kingdom assigned to Public Investment Fund (PIF) which will undertake bidding for 70 percent, while Renewable Energy Project Development Office (REPDO) would undertake competitive tendering for the remaining 30 percent, as announced by the Ministry of Energy in 2019.

T. Madhava Das, Whole-Time Director & Senior Executive Vice President (Utilities), L&T said “KSA aims to become a pioneer in Renewable Energy and we are happy to be a part of this journey. We have been building efficient power transmission and distribution networks with modern substations and transmission lines in this region for more than 2 decades. This is yet another recognition of our capabilities to construct mega projects to speed and scale.”

Recently, ACWA Power had announced the official inauguration of the 300 MW Sakaka PV IPP, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s (KSA) first utility-scale renewable energy project, at an investment value of 1.2 billion Saudi riyals.